A Chicago Bears Fan in Paris

There is no place like home. But where is home?

"The worst part of spending three years in France," Jeff told us during a recent visit, "was being a Bears fan in Paris."

Jeff, a college friend of my husband's, has been a diehard Chicago Bears fan ever since he started watching Monday Night Football from his father's lap at the age of five. He's the kind of fan who has traveled as far as Seattle, New Orleans, and Miami for important games, and can effortlessly quote the statistics of Bears players who haven't stepped onto a playing field for decades.

"At first," Jeff recalled, "Lisa and I were thrilled when my boss said I was being transferred. We both love Paris. We love walking along the Champs Elysees in the moonlight, and sitting in sidewalk cafes, and losing ourselves in the Louvre.

"But a few weeks after we got there, I realized that Paris might be Paradise, but it's no place for a Bears fan. Back in Chicago, being a Bears fan is the most natural thing in the world. When the Bears win a big game, people are dancing in the streets. And when they lose, like when they lost the division playoffs to the Panthers last year," Jeff winced, "I just looked at faces at work the next morning, and knew exactly what every person in my whole office was feeling.

"But in Paris, I was completely on my own. When those three years were finally over, I realized that Dorothy was 100% right. There's definitely no place like home."

LEBANON AND KINGSTON

Jeff's experiences had a lot in common with my visit to North America this past August. When my family arrived in Kingston, my husband's hometown outside of Toronto, the Lebanon War was raging full speed ahead.

Back in Israel, over a million Israelis were living in bomb shelters or had fled their homes on account of the missile attacks on the North. The husbands of some of my closest friends, and tens of thousands of some of Israel's finest young men, were in Lebanon risking their lives in order to keep Israel safe.

And I was in Kingston. Where people trimmed their hedges, and drank bottles of beer on their front porches, and piled canoes and bikes onto their cars in preparation for weekend trips out of the city.

I felt like a person whose house was burning to the ground while he was locked inside an amusement park.

I tried to be a good sport. I skipped rocks with my daughters into the tranquil waters of Lake Ontario. I life-guarded at the wading pool in my mother-in-law's backyard. I ate potatoes and hotdogs roasted over a fire at the family's cottage.

But I wasn't really there. I felt like a person whose house was burning to the ground while he was locked inside an amusement park.

My body was in Canada, but my heart was in the war zone 5000 miles away.

On the last day of my family's trip, after the war was over, we attended my brother's wedding in Washington, DC.

I cannot describe how happy I was to see my older brother getting married to the soul mate he had been seeking for so many years. It was also exciting to be reunited with relatives that I hadn't seen in over a decade since I moved to Israel.

At the wedding, many of my relatives asked me about life in Israel. I was already very homesick, and tried to put into words the reasons I longed for my adopted homeland.

I tried to describe the idealistic young families and singles, Israelis and immigrants alike, who make up our vibrant community in central Jerusalem. I tried to describe the aura of holiness that envelops Jerusalem every Friday at sunset. I tried to describe the cornucopia of colorful produce and characters that fill the local market where I do my shopping.

As we spoke, one uncle recalled a wonderful trip he had taken to Israel 30 years before. One cousin said that he really would like to finally visit Israel one day. And I could see that he meant it.

But for most of my relatives, when I spoke about why I live in Israel, I could see in their faces that they didn't get it. For the most part, they nodded politely, as though they could see my lips moving, but couldn't understand the words.

The next day, they would return home to their lives in Long Island or Atlanta or Westchester. And I would be clapping and singing Israeli folk songs with the other passengers as our plane landed on the other side of the world.

I know many people who are fans of Israel who live outside of Israel. They write letters to the editor for Israel, and demonstrate for Israel, and visit Israel, and pray for Israel with all their hearts. Israel depends on their support, just as it depends on the dedication of its most committed citizens and soldiers.

But for me, the moment they stamped my Israeli passport at Ben Gurion Airport, I realized that while the Champs Elysees in the moonlight has its definite charms, if I was a Bears fan like Jeff, I would want to be in Chicago to cry with my friends from the office, and to dance with them in the parking lot of Soldier Field.

And since I'm a fan of Israel, I also want to be right here through the best of times and the worst of times. I want to be here when times are tough to cry on the shoulder of my daughter's third grade teacher, and to worry and pray together with my friend whose husband does not have the luxury of watching the fighting from the safety of his living room sofa.

And I want to be right here, as well, in order to dance with them all beside the Western Wall when the better times come.

As I exited the airport and walked into the Israeli sunlight with my husband and daughters that day, I realized that Jeff was 100% right.

Featured at Aish.com:

About the Author

Chana Jenny Weisberg is the author of One Baby Step at a Time: 7 Secrets of Jewish Motherhood (Urim) as well as the creator of the popular Jewish Mom Video Series that can be viewed on her website www.JewishMom.com.

Visitor Comments: 6

(6)
james barry,
January 22, 2008 7:18 AM

I was a mitnadev during the war in 1973

Dear Israel Diary,

Yes, I understand in a small way. I was a volunteer in Israel during the Yom Kippur conflict in 1974, returning in 1974. I worked in Kibbutz Nativ ha Lamed he. I am not Jewish, but I will never forget the idealism and hope of the young people I worked with, and the Israeli's I worked with and befriended. This is a remarkable country, with courage and hope. Last week I was in Paris and visited a felafel shop in Le Maris, and remembered my stay in Aretz Isreal, including the smell of the dry air and eucalypus trees. The feeling of being disconnected from your homland, loved ones, people, culture, religion, is part of our human condition - I pray you will find a way like I have to carry this

(5)
Ofra Ben-David,
May 29, 2007 9:33 AM

Your story inspire me to go for a visit.

I love your story and we need more people like you feel the way you do about Israel.P.S. with G-D help I will be going home for a visit this coming september

(4)
Ofra Ben-David,
March 2, 2007 12:20 AM

My hat to you

I was moved to know the way you feel about our homeland I do hope that many think and feel like you. Thank you. Ofra Ben-david.

(3)
Devorah,
February 2, 2007 10:47 AM

thank you

i love this article!! it is soo well written with such a good comparison since we all understand sports and how much it means to many people!!thanks for the inspiration!wishing i was in the holy land,devorah

(2)
Marni Rosen,
January 29, 2007 10:56 AM

So true!!

I am also an olah from Canada, now home B"H here in Yerushalayim for 15 years. Chana Weisberg's article is beautiful and so well-expressed. But how sad that so many Jews living in North America have no concept of what life in Israel is really like as they have never even visited. Once when back in Canada on a visit, someone said to me, "You are brave to live in Israel." I said, "No, I'm not brave. I'm privileged."

(1)
Neal - Wilmette,
January 28, 2007 9:04 AM

Go Bears....

As a life long Chicago Bears fan from Chicago and still living in the Chicago area, I found your article terrific...Even though i haven't been back to Israel since my my families trip after my bar mitzvah....I too long for going back to our homeland...I tell my two young girls that even though I was very young during my visit to Israel... I told them when I landed there I felt like I was coming home. Long live Israel and the IDF and let's go Chicago Bears!!!!

I live in rural Montana where the Cholov Yisrael milk is difficult to obtain and very expensive. So I drink regular milk. What is your view on this?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Jewish law requires that there be rabbinic supervision during the milking process to ensure that the milk comes from a kosher animal. In the United States, many people rely on the Department of Agriculture's regulations and controls as sufficiently stringent to fulfill the rabbinic requirement for supervision.

Most of the major Kashrut organizations in the United States rely on this as well. You will therefore find many kosher products in America certified with a 'D' next to the kosher symbol. Such products – unless otherwise specified on the label – are not Cholov Yisrael and are assumed kosher based on the DOA's guarantee.

There are many, however, do not rely on this, and will eat only dairy products that are designated as Cholov Yisrael (literally, "Jewish milk"). This is particularly true in large Jewish communities, where Cholov Yisrael is widely available.

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein wrote that under limited conditions, such as an institution which consumes a lot of milk and Cholov Yisrael is generally unavailable or especially expensive, American milk is acceptable, as the government supervision is adequate to prevent non-kosher ingredients from being added.

It should be added that the above only applies to milk itself, which is marketed as pure cow's milk. All other dairy products, such as cheeses and butter, may contain non-kosher ingredients and always require kosher certification. In addition, Rabbi Feinstein's ruling applies only in the United States, where government regulations are considered reliable. In other parts of the world, including Europe, Cholov Yisrael is a requirement.

There are additional esoteric reasons for being stringent regarding Cholov Yisrael, and because of this it is generally advisable to consume only Cholov Yisroel dairy foods.

In 1889, 800 Jews arrived in Buenos Aires, marking the birth of the modern Jewish community in Argentina. These immigrants were fleeing poverty and pogroms in Russia, and moved to Argentina because of its open door policy of immigration. By 1920, more than 150,000 Jews were living in Argentina. Juan Peron's rise to power in 1946 was an ominous sign, as he was a Nazi sympathizer with fascist leanings. Peron halted Jewish immigration to Argentina, introduced mandatory Catholic religious instruction in public schools, and allowed Argentina to become a haven for fleeing Nazis. (In 1960, Israeli agents abducted Adolf Eichmann from a Buenos Aires suburb.) Today, Argentina has the largest Jewish community in Latin America with 250,000, though terror attacks have prompted many young people to emigrate. In 1992, the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 32 people. In 1994, the Jewish community headquarters in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 85 people. The perpetrators have never been apprehended.

Be aware of what situations and behaviors give you pleasure. When you feel excessively sad and cannot change your attitude, make a conscious effort to take some action that might alleviate your sadness.

If you anticipate feeling sad, prepare a list of things that might make you feel better. It could be talking to a specific enthusiastic individual, running, taking a walk in a quiet area, looking at pictures of family, listening to music, or reading inspiring words.

While our attitude is a major factor in sadness, lack of positive external situations and events play an important role in how we feel.

[If a criminal has been executed by hanging] his body may not remain suspended overnight ... because it is an insult to God (Deuteronomy 21:23).

Rashi explains that since man was created in the image of God, anything that disparages man is disparaging God as well.

Chilul Hashem, bringing disgrace to the Divine Name, is one of the greatest sins in the Torah. The opposite of chilul Hashem is kiddush Hashem, sanctifying the Divine Name. While this topic has several dimensions to it, there is a living kiddush Hashem which occurs when a Jew behaves in a manner that merits the respect and admiration of other people, who thereby respect the Torah of Israel.

What is chilul Hashem? One Talmudic author stated, "It is when I buy meat from the butcher and delay paying him" (Yoma 86a). To cause someone to say that a Torah scholar is anything less than scrupulous in meeting his obligations is to cause people to lose respect for the Torah.

Suppose someone offers us a business deal of questionable legality. Is the personal gain worth the possible dishonor that we bring not only upon ourselves, but on our nation? If our personal reputation is ours to handle in whatever way we please, shouldn't we handle the reputation of our nation and the God we represent with maximum care?

Jews have given so much, even their lives, for kiddush Hashem. Can we not forego a few dollars to avoid chilul Hashem?

Today I shall...

be scrupulous in all my transactions and relationships to avoid the possibility of bringing dishonor to my God and people.

With stories and insights,
Rabbi Twerski's new book Twerski on Machzor makes Rosh Hashanah prayers more meaningful. Click here to order...